Biden administration plans tougher action to rein in meat prices

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Reuters

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration plans to take a tougher stance toward meatpacking companies it says are causing sticker shock at grocery stores.

Four companies control much of the U.S. meat processing market, and top aides to President Joe Biden blamed those companies for rising food prices in a blog on Wednesday.

As part of a set of initiatives, the administration will funnel $1.4 billion in COVID-19 pandemic stimulus money to small meat producers and workers, administration aides said in the blog post. They also promised action to "crack down on illegal price fixing," White House aides said in the blog post.

Four companies slaughtered about 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that are made into steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat for consumers in 2018, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).



Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-administration-plans-tougher-action-160149279.html

[Binkie The Clown]

1. As climate change continues to kick in, meat will become more and more expensive.

Eventually it will become a rarity for the very wealthy. But by then millions will be starving anyway, so it's a moot point.

[Calista241]

34. We'll be the last ones to starve.

Africa, South America and Western Asia will suffer the worst.

[Binkie The Clown]

36. Yup. The poor countries will really suffer before we begin to feel it nt

[Old Crank]

3. It would be better

For the world and us in general if the US paid the real cost of meat.
Unfortunately the current system just rewards the meat packers while squeezing the ends.

[Grokenstein]

4. Oooooo, let's watch the switch!

The trump trash who have been bawling about gas prices ("Why doesn't Joe DO something!!&quot will promptly kick over to reeeeee about "Socialism" and "overreach" even as they cram their freezers with beef.

[cinematicdiversions]

5. Honestly, like gasoline, meat is too cheap not too expensive.

I am not sure what planet $2 a pound pork or $5 rotisserie chickens are causing some sort of sticker shock. The Biden administraton has enough on their plate without this kind of silliness.

[jimfields33]

7. Beef is what the issue is.

[SergeStorms]

8. I saw a package...

of ends cut off of beef tenderloins. Close to $25 for 2 small ends cut from the whole tenderloin. There would have been enough for one small portion of beef for someone.

Beef prices are prohibitively expensive for most people's food budgets now.

[cinematicdiversions]

9. Then don't buy beef????

Buy Chicken or Pork or lamb instead? Or even a vegetarian option?

There are plenty of foods I buy rarely due to price. (I am looking your way scallops) I just buy something else.

Honestly, while this is not exactly like those people who complain about housing prices and when you point out all the places with a low cost of living, then complain they don't want to live there. It does seem to be first cousins with such folk.

[left-of-center2012]

28. $7 a pound for ground beef at my local Kroger

My meatloaf recipe calls for two pounds.
A $14 meatloaf?

[Mysterian]

29. I bought 73/27 ground beef for $2.49 a pound yesterday

at my local IGA.

[left-of-center2012]

31. That would make a very greasy meatloaf

I'll pass

[Mysterian]

37. Greasy meatloaf is best meatloaf

You can have you fancy Kroger ground beef with 7% less fat.

[madville]

33. My IGA always has great deals on hams and miscut bacon.

Got 2lbs of miscut bacon last week for $4. Got 8 lbs of smoked ham for $6 that same trip as well.

[cinematicdiversions]

24. Yes I think complaing that meat isn't affordable when it clearly is because

scallops or lobster or tenderloin is a bit dear is silly.

And yes, wearing masks while walking in the park last June was also silly. Am I wearing masks indoors now that the Delta variant has reared its ugly head... of course. But apparently we are all frozen in amber in your world.

[Coventina]

40. Exactly this: If we paid the cost to the planet, almost everyone would be vegetarian.

Eating meat is bad for: Your body, the animal, and the planet.

Just stop. It's really not that hard, and future generations will thank you.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. We have more important things to focus on. Just sayin'.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

10. The more who switch to being vegan the better.

The price will drop out in no time.

Maybe insurance companies can provide discounts to those who give up meat. Treat it like tobacco.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

13. I was a vegetarian once. I gave it up.

Figuring as a race, humans have eaten meat pretty much since they became humans and we're still here. Besides, say what you want but a good hamburger is hard to beat (for me).

[OneCrazyDiamond]

14. Captain Beefheart said

"There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers."

[DFW]

19. He obviously never compared the populations of Hamburg and Berlin

There are way more Berliner than there are Hamburger (just compare the populations of Berlin and Hamburg) but then if you say "EIN Berliner," then you're talking about a jelly-filled donut. Not any better for your arteries than a hamburger, but at least no red meat involved.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

21. Ha! I see what you did there.

[cinematicdiversions]

25. There are much better targets for insurance companies like sugar. NT

[OneCrazyDiamond]

38. That's a good idea too.

Meat has a greater impact then sugar. Elimination of meat will help save the planet, so I look at it as pressure from all side is needed.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. How can you tell if someone is a vegan?

You don't have to. They'll tell you.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

30. 😂

[SergeStorms]

35. Over, and over, and over....

again. Yes, they certainly love to pontificate, don't they.

[forgotmylogin]

11. I am glad for our grocery's "four trays for $20" deal

Usually they have chicken legs and thighs, pork steak, sometimes various pork chops, sometimes hamburger, and usually some thinner blade steaks. They usually are stickered between $6-14 individually.

[IronLionZion]

12. This is about price fixing at big corporations

who raised prices after receiving stimulus money, and providing more stimulus to smaller producers. COVID has disrupted global supply chains. The US and Brazil are the world's biggest producers and coincidentally the hardest hit with COVID.

No matter how DUers feel about meat, there are tons of jobs involved in it at every level. People here should hate corporate greed and their screwing of workers. COVID stimulus was supposed to be spent on making workplaces safer and limit layoffs.

[Bayard]

15. Glad I don't eat it

But the price of things like chicken feed (lot of corn), and plain cracked corn, have almost doubled in price. I'm assuming that would also raise the price for cattle feed.

[marie999]

17. We have found the best prices in Eastern NC for feed for our chickens, turkeys, and ducks

is at Tractor Supply. These are range-free pets, not for eating except for their eggs. We give them scratch just for treats.

[Bayard]

18. We go to TS too

They get WAY too much of our money!

[llmart]

16. Glad I stopped eating meat long ago.

We'd be a much healthier nation if more people ate less meat and more fruits and vegetables.

[DFW]

20. I have hardly touched red meat since 2004 anyway, so I don't care

That is when I had my cardiac near miss, and the cardiologist called my wife in and we had a conference where he laid down the law: no more red meat, and stay away from cheese, eggs, butter and red wine. Red wine was disconcerting only inasmuch as I never drank it in the first place. Cheese and eggs were painful (and I don't always behave there), but ditching red meat turned out to be surprisingly easy.

I was given two guidelines. The first was almost proverbial: if it tastes good, spit it out! The second: don't eat it if it ever walked on four legs. That was clearer, and I have managed to abide by that one 99% of the time (it might not have gone unnoticed that I am still here, whereas Mother Nature had me slated to do a permanent check-out on April 29, 2004).

[Midnight Writer]

22. Local slaughterhouses around here have also raised beef prices.

We have some family-owned slaughter and butcher operations around here that produce high quality beef.

I doubt they are involved in corporate price fixing.

[TallMike]

26. Yeah.

No. Left the urban fuckstorm years ago. Professionally cooked my way through school. Worked some of the finest kitchens in San Francisco.
If I cant scratch my hamburger under the chin at 12 years of age, i don't eat it. If I cant find dirt on my oddly shaped carrot. I don't eat it.
Im being overly cynical of course but it's not that hard no matter where you live.
Well of course except for the urban fuckstorm.
Oh. And by the way, you're all too late. sorry, no more room at the inn...
Let's not even talk about water.
Best of luck to you all.
I'll be fine.

[madville]

32. There ways to stretch your dollar

I rarely buy steaks anymore but I do enjoy some dishes with hamburger, like chili, spaghetti, etc.

Simple way is to reduce the beef in a dish, if it calls for 1lb in your chili use a half and add some more beans, corn, some rice, still the same flavor, still plenty of protein and half the fat.

I will also mix ground pork, chicken or turkey with ground beef in dishes, like meatloaf or burgers, can’t even tell the difference.

Years ago, when struggling financially, I ate tons of rice and beans for pennies. Got pretty good at making it different ways and tasty. I still make a big pot of rice and beans several times a month with no meat at all.

[cinematicdiversions]

39. Meat vending machine serving up fresh cuts, late-night snacks in Tampa